


Children's Storytime

by raven_aorla



Series: Time Out of Mind [22]
Category: 18th Century CE RPF, Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Families of Choice, Family Feels, Fluff, Foster Care, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kidfic, a brief reference to miscarriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-19 11:35:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22610275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raven_aorla/pseuds/raven_aorla
Summary: After Philip and Angie are old enough to handle it, Alexander and Eliza decide to try fostering.[An encore written in celebration of the Hamilton movie announcement, and friendly to readers unfamiliar with this series.]
Relationships: Alexander Hamilton & Alexander Hamilton's Children, Alexander Hamilton & George Washington, Alexander Hamilton & James Hamilton Jr. (c.1753-1786), Alexander Hamilton & John Laurens, Alexander Hamilton/Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler, Angelica Hamilton & Philip Hamilton (1782-1801), Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler & Her Children, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Time Out of Mind [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/433246
Comments: 7
Kudos: 28





	Children's Storytime

**Author's Note:**

> If you're a fan of this series, welcome back! If not, welcome! If you decide to read the other parts of the series one day, I've included as few spoilers as possible without compromising my concept. It may be helpful for you to know that in this AU, Alexander and John have had a very deep queerplatonic relationship for years, and are out and proud as bi and gay respectively, but never actually dated and are happily married to other people. All ships from earlier in the series still exist and are going strong, I'm just not focusing on them. 
> 
> I challenged myself to incorporate at least 1-2 facts about the real Hamilkids in each main section. The facts I used will be listed in the end notes.
> 
> EDIT: The conversation about Holly has been recast because I realized the fic wasn't passing the Bechdel test and easily could be.

PHILIP, age ten, was shaping up to be almost too good to be true. He was a boy of nice looks and a very likable personality, boasting plenty of smarts and enough of a work ethic to actually do something with them. He was a captain in his middle school’s debate team and liked to write, but he was well-rounded enough to also be on the track team. What kept him human was his temper. If someone hurt his feelings - or much worse, said anything mean about his loved ones - he lashed out with words and very occasionally with a punch.

-

_“But Daaaaaad, he called another boy a...he claimed the other boy was 1. gay and that 2. this was bad and 3. he used a really bad word for that assumption. And when Uncle John - Laurens, not Church - was a younger and people said things like that it made him really depressed and -”_

_“Flipflop, I can’t keep bailing you out of the principal’s office because you feel so compelled to defend our family honor in, frankly, not the most intelligent ways. Your mother has had enough headaches, and Uncle John doesn’t need you putting yourself in harm’s way in his place.” Alexander glanced at the rearview mirror and saw how Philip was slumped in the backseat. His voice softened. “ I’m not saying your feelings aren’t understandable. I’d be furious too. Let’s talk more pacifist strategies to go about this kind of thing, okay?”_

-

ANGIE, always called this to avoid confusion with Aunt Angelica, had come along slightly under two years after the first child. She’d been revealed through testing to be on the milder end of the autism spectrum, not enough to be considered disabled by any legal or medical rubric, but enough to be worth bearing in mind when helping her handle life challenges. Her parents weren’t interested in trying to make her like other kids, only in making sure they weren’t ignoring invisible factors in her life.

She had latched onto the piano when she was barely able to walk and now played on a skill level right on the border between “gifted” and “prodigy”. One of her other hyperfixations (if you could call it that) was Philip - not in an inappropriate way, but with the intensity of a girl who was close with her brother and wasn’t good at making new friends. She was chatty and vivacious at home but socially awkward at school. Right now it wasn’t too much of a problem, since her academics were fine and Philip adored her right back. Spending time with him was the one thing that could always make her hop off the piano bench. However, their parents were worried that once Philip started naturally developing other interests and a broader social life as part of growing up, Angie would have some kind of meltdown at the separation.

_-_

_“She does well with kids that are related to her or might as well be, though. Even Lafayette’s, despite the language barrier when we visited,” Alexander commented on one of his and Eliza’s date nights. They’d set up a system where every Friday evening, a rotating cast of helpers either looked after Philip and Angie at home or picked them up for an activity. This time it was Peggy taking them to the latest Pixar film and a buffet afterwards. Next week, they were going to the Washingtons for some grandparent-style spoiling, Alexander’s biological parents being either dead or, uh, problematic. Besides hanging out as a foursome, Martha had started taking Angie to an all-ages dance class with her, and George and Philip sometimes went fishing together._

_“Angie’s almost too dedicated to people she considers family. Maybe it's our fault for our choice of namesake.” Eliza took a sip of her wine and put a warm hand over Alexander’s as it jittered slightly on the white tablecloth. “I know you want to talk about the big proposition a bit more before we bring it up to her and Philip, but let’s forget we’re parents until the meal is over. Have you decided what you want to order for the main course?”_

-

THE PROPOSITION went like this:

“We love you both very much and you are not lacking in any way,” Alexander began, after calling the four of them into the living room. Philip immediately looked worried and Angie looked confused.

Eliza made a face at her husband. “Trying too hard to be reassuring tends to accomplish the opposite effect, dearest.”

“I’m nervous too,” Alexander stage-whispered.

Eliza patted his shoulder. “What we want to say is that your mom has always felt like there’s room in this home and in our hearts for a bigger family, and your dad remembers what it was like to lose his family. We’re thinking of fostering, but we want you to have a say in it.”

“Isn’t that like when you raise baby birds?” Angie said excitedly. Wildlife enthusiast John Laurens had unintentionally gotten her into a new hyperfixation while babysitting last month. Since then, she’d been saving up her small weekly allowance for a canary and everything it would need. (Alexander was lobbying to also make her write a three-page report about canaries, as a true test of dedication, but Eliza said that was overkill.)

“Sometimes, but what we mean is looking after other small humans until someone adopts them or they’re old enough to live on their own,” Alexander said.

Philip drew up his legs so he could hug them, as if he were on a bed or the floor rather than the couch. “Can’t you just make another baby? I want a little brother.”

“Um…” Eliza trailed off. Alexander schooled his expression, even as he saw Eliza’s smile falter slightly. Other than Eliza’s doctor, only Alexander and Angelica Schuyler-Church knew the full story there. Alexander knew because it was relevant to his marriage, and Angelica knew because to this day her shoulder was Eliza’s preferred one to cry on. They’d tell the children the full story one day, but since Eliza hadn’t started showing before tragedy struck, it had been easier for her at the time to leave it unspoken.

Alexander put an arm around Eliza’s waist. “Parents don’t have full control over that. Sometimes they don’t expect a baby but they get one, sometimes they try to have one on purpose and they get one, and sometimes they try, but that’s not how it works out. And adoption takes a long time, besides being a bigger adjustment. We don’t want to change too much at once.”

“What’s gonna change?” Angie asked. “I don’t want to share my room, because then where will I put my canary?”

“You won’t have to share your room,” Eliza said, sounding grateful for the easy question. “We’ll start by turning the guest bedroom more child-appropriate. If we end up needing more, Dad will move his home office to the attic and we can convert the room he’s using now. They’re probably going to be quite young. The agencies prefer for any biological children in the same home to be in a different age group, so you aren’t in competition.”

“Like birds who occupy the same ecological niche,” Angie said solemnly. Alexander grinned at her endearing choice of words.

“I’ve talked to my boss about letting me regularly work from home even more often so I can help out more,” Alexander said. Since switching from working at the Department of the Treasury to a private sector consulting job four years ago, Alexander had already been able to negotiate more flexible hours and had demonstrated that his productivity could still be “almost terrifyingly high” (exact quote) while telecommuting at least one day out of the week. Part of it had been for his family, and the other part had been because of some stern warnings from his therapist about how he’d been plummeting towards burnout and making bad decisions about his health. He also did a lot of writing on the side, which was a good outlet for his energy and ambition in a way that going into politics - which he’d considered - would not have been.

“Can we change our minds later if it turns out to be a bad idea?” Philip asked. “I’ll be okay, but sometimes kids pick on Angie.”

“Home is safe. I don’t mind if you don’t mind, Phil,” Angie said, rubbing her hands on the couch upholstery. It didn’t mean anything in particular. She’d once said she simply liked how it felt.

“Your safety will always come first,” Eliza promised.

“We can’t kick someone to the curb just because you’re not bffs right away, but if we foster someone and it’s not a good experience, we don’t have to take on any others. They’ll all be temporary unless we end up adopting any of them ourselves.” As the Washingtons had offered, back in the day, but young Alexander and his trust issues hadn’t felt comfortable with the idea of being anyone's son ever again.

“Can I ask Aunt Angelica what it was like for her when Grandma and Grandpa brought you home from China?” Angie asked. Angelica had been old enough to remember.

“Of course,” Eliza said.

Two days later, Angie and Philip gave their blessing.

-

_“You don’t do anything by halves, do you?” George asked dryly as Alexander held the ladder steady. Martha would never forgive Alexander if he let George take a tumble while picking fruit from one of his beloved trees._

_“I know, I know, it would make more sense not to take on two new charges at once. But I can’t let a pair of brothers named Alejo and Diego get split up,” Alexander protested. “You know ‘Alejo’ is what Jim used to call me. Before the foster care system split us up when I was already traumatized from finding my guardian dangling from a noose, I mean, and the whole thing with my mom literally dying right next to me not long before that. Apparently it was hunky-dory to erase James Hamilton Junior from Alexander Hamilton’s life. I can’t even, George, I absolutely cannot possibly begin to can.”_

_“Your dubious ability to switch from eloquence to whatever that last sentence was hasn’t faded with adulthood. Your overall argument makes sense, though, and anything Eliza signs off on can’t be too foolish. Pass me the pruning shears, please._ ”

_Alexander did. “Besides, ‘Jim’ and ‘Diego’ are both variations on ‘James’, or so our linguist pal told me one time. It’s fate!”_

_“How old are they? If they’re adolescents, you’re in for a handful.”_

_“Nooooo, who’d take on a moody teen? We’re not that dumb.” Alexander laughed as George “accidentally” dropped an overripe fig in a way that narrowly missed him. They later sat under the tree eating sandwiches in the shade. George Washington made retirement look good._

-

ALEJO AND DIEGO were six and five, respectively. Upon arrival they only had some shabby clothes, shoes that didn’t fit them anymore, and one toy each. Alejo had a plastic toy boat he refused to take baths without, and Diego had an inflated plastic ball designed to look like a globe. The family took them shopping for more clothes and a few more toys right away. Philip was very proud to help assemble the boys’ bunk beds, which was good because IKEA furniture was one of the very few things that could make Eliza swear in front of her offspring, Alexander couldn’t do it alone, and Angie got stressed out seeing furniture put together because she couldn’t stop visualizing all the pieces falling apart.

Alejo started going to the same school as Philip and Angie, following them to and from the bus stop each day. Overachieving Philip took it upon himself to walk Alejo to his first grade class before sprinting to his own fifth grade class. Alejo adjusted reasonably soon and did well in class, but he was shy on the playground. He also flinched or hid whenever he heard people talking angrily. Even if it wasn’t at him. The Hamiltons did their best to reassure him each time. While he was a polite child overall, he sometimes took an irrational dislike to people, like the time when Aaron Burr escorted his daughter to their house to sell them Girl Scout cookies and Alejo wouldn’t stop glaring at him. Aaron told Alexander in private that he felt like he was being silently cross-examined.

Meanwhile, every morning either Eliza or Alexander drove Diego to a bilingual kindergarten they’d heard good things about. Diego liked “Elisa” but positively worshipped “Aleh” and followed him around the house as much as possible. This included sitting quietly on the floor of Alexander’s home office, “writing” different combinations of half-formed letters on pieces of scrap paper in crayon. They had to gently break him of the habit of sneaking food from meals and hiding it in his pillowcase and other unfortunate places for food to be discovered much later. It took him a few weeks to really believe there would always be enough to eat.

Of course they weren’t perfect little darlings. It would have been unnerving if they had been. Until someone was willing to take both Alejo and Diego as a package deal, they were staying.

-

_Angie got along fine with both of the boys, but she didn’t go out of her way to spend time with them or volunteer help like Philip did. She grumbled if she wanted to do something with Philip but he was, say, playing catch with them, but she didn’t take it out on them, just went back to her room and her music and her bird. In general, Alexander and Eliza tried to give each kid some individual attention regularly, but they worked extra hard not to let her fade into the background._

_One day, Alexander walked in on Angie playing a soft, slow piece on their full-size piano in the living room (an inherited Schuyler antique) rather than the electronic keyboard in her room. It was the first time he’d seen her practicing out here when there were fosterlings who might barge in at any moment. Then he noticed two pairs of small feet sticking out of a blanket fort in the corner of the room. And then he noticed that she was actually playing a gentle cover of something from the Moana soundtrack rather than one of her lessons. He tiptoed away to grab his phone to take a video of the moment. Happiness is where you are, after all._

-

JUAN CARLOS was an emergency placement after his previous foster home had been discovered to be poorly-managed and dirty, bordering on squalid. They cleared out the other room for him. He was also five, though a very strong reader for his age, which Eliza found out when she’d caught him silently mouthing out his way through a Dr. Seuss book all by himself and it became clear he’d understood the story so far and wasn’t just guessing based on pictures. Rather than try to wedge him into first grade or something else that would be terrible for his emotional development, they sent him to kindergarten with Diego. Alexander spent extra time reading with him, or even just to him. Sometimes when Alexander was reading to him, he’d insist on sitting on Alexander’s lap and then fell asleep partway through.

_-_

_The main unfortunate bit of baggage Juan had was insisting on things being his confused version of tidy, otherwise “bugs will come”. At one point Alexander found out Juan had thrown away mail John Laurens had sent him over a period of years, on the grounds that “it was dirty”. Juan apologized when he found out he shouldn't have done that. John (and his husband) thought this was hilarious._

-

WILL, age four, actually had a loving mom who wanted him back as soon as she'd gotten her own life in order. She needed a few months to do so. CPS wouldn't allow a child to stay in a residence with no running water and that had old lead paint on the walls. Will also seemed to be perpetually sick, which turned out it was lactose intolerance rather than anything that needed treatment, thank goodness. While not a bad kid, he was prone to tantrums that probably stemmed from being separated from Mommy for reasons he didn't understand. During his short stay, sharing a room with Juan, Will comforted himself by making a big collection of pretty shiny pebbles and spent ages sorting them. He took it with him when he returned home.

-

_"I’m hoping we get a girl now that Will’s gone,” Angie confided in Uncle Ned when he took went to her dance recital and took her out for a smoothie afterwards. Her parents had been too busy and he’d volunteered to make sure someone was there to support her. Ned had been Alexander’s best friend in high school, but they didn’t find out that they secretly had the same father until they were adults, which must have been very confusing. Angie enjoyed how much he looked and acted like a taller, calmer, quieter version of her dad._

_He stirred his gross kale drink with the reusable straw he’d brought with him. “I’m sure the rest of your family would enjoy that too, but aren’t you running out of bedrooms?”_

_“Ugh, you’re right, the agency wouldn’t let a girl share with Juan, probably. And it wouldn’t be fair to stick him in with the brothers. The boys aren’t bad, but sometimes they can be so dumb. Last week we went to the rec center and Alejo was play-fighting with this other kid and smacked his head on the side of the pool and didn’t even notice he was bleeding until Philip called him out on it.” She ate the slice of watermelon garnishing her glass._

_“Not everyone’s smart enough to remember that blood needs to stay inside the body,” Ned joked._

-

HOLLY, age three, ended up joining the household while Juan’s adoption to another family was still being processed. With the consent of the other children, most of the toys and kids’ books were moved out of the playroom and redistributed in other rooms, and Angelica’s little bed from when she was a toddler got dusted off and brought back out of the basement. She was the sweetest, bubbliest munchkin. Everyone loved her right away. She imprinted heavily on Eliza, even more than Diego had on Alexander, and wouldn’t go to sleep unless Eliza sang to her and tucked her in at night.

-

_“I know we said we’re only fostering for now, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to live without Holly,” Eliza confessed to Angie one day as they did the dishes together. Alexander and Philip had made dinner this time, so it was only fair._

_Angie glanced at Holly, who was practicing how to open and close the pantry door and laughing in delight whenever she succeeded. "I'd be okay with keeping this one.”_

-

LIL PHIL, as Philip insisted everyone call the three-year-old boy they were temporarily entrusted with, had been found hiding in an abandoned cellar and unable to verbalize how he’d gotten there and where his real parents were, though at least he’d been able to report his own name. Social Services took three weeks to find a suitable living relative to transfer custody to.

“I wish him all the best, but I don’t think we need more than one Philip Hamilton,” Philip said after they’d said goodbye to Lil Phil.

-

_“...So that’s how I ended up with my horde,” Alexander concluded, tilting his laptop screen so the webcam had a better angle._

_On the other side of the connection, Jim Hamilton snorted. “We need to talk more often so you don’t have to recite so much drama every time. Or you could have a less dramatic life.”_

_“I refuse.” They’d only had limited contact since their lives first diverged, but Jim still meant a lot to Alexander, and it still felt natural to joke around with him._

_“Our mama would be so proud.”_

_A loud crash came from downstairs. Alexander rolled his eyes. “I hope so. I gotta go and check to see what that was. Take care of yourself, bro.”_

_“I will. You take care of them.”_

**Author's Note:**

> \- Philip and Alexander Jr. went to the same boarding school.
> 
> \- Angelica Hamilton was brilliant at both piano and the harp, and used to go to dancing lessons with Martha Washington.
> 
> \- When Philip died, Angelica, then 17, had a complete and total breakdown and became delusional and "childlike" for the rest of her life, still believing Philip was alive. Her parents eventually sent her to live with a doctor they trusted and gave her pet birds to keep her company. Alexander is documented as having watermelons sent to her, too.
> 
> \- Alexander Jr. represented Aaron Burr's second wife in her bitter divorce from him. (Hah!) Before this, he sailed to Spain and fought against Napoleon. 
> 
> \- James Alexander Hamilton eventually became Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson. Even in his old age, he talked and wrote about what a wonderful father he'd had.
> 
> \- Some suspect John Church Hamilton of censoring his father's correspondence with Laurens while putting together Alexander Hamilton's life story. 
> 
> \- The day before the duel, Alexander cuddled John Church Hamilton and prayed with him, without explaining why. 
> 
> \- William S. Hamilton owned a lead mine for some years, then died trying to strike it rich in the California Gold Rush, most likely of cholera.
> 
> \- Eliza Hamilton Holly had Eliza come live with her after she married Sidney Holly, and after Sidney died E.H. lived with and cared for her mother until her death.
> 
> \- Philip Hamilton the Second / Little Philip was born soon after his eldest brother's death. As an adult, he became an active abolitionist and is known to have helped at least one escaping slave by hiding him in a cellar until the coast was clear.
> 
> Bonus fact if you are new to the series:
> 
> \- There was a conspiracy theory during Alexander Hamilton's lifetime that the father of his childhood friend Edward "Ned" Stevens, whose family took Alexander in after his cousin's death, was also Hamilton's real father by blood. In this AU, I made it true. There is no historical proof of this other than gossip and some people thinking they looked similar. Either way, they're kind of equivalent to modern foster brothers. Stevens is very indirectly referenced in the musical (Hamilton quotes a line from a letter the historical Hamilton wrote to him) and had many accomplishments, but one was being a successful physician who had a controversial stance AGAINST bloodletting.
> 
> Thank you for reading! I'd love to know what you think. <3


End file.
